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Spent Saturday after the RANGERS big WIN envisioning, brainstorming and building the set & lighting for this coming weeks Studio Shoots in my awesome, modern, ground floor Professional Studio. The past couple weeks I’ve been searching for old, rusted out, used, corrugated tin roofing. No one seemed to have any, and a few old barns recently torn down, well I just missed nailing some by just a week or so…till BINGO, my buddy Bill Baker of Photographers Tech & Training Solutions in Elmira, NY, stumbled upon some on Craig’s List at a place up in Ithaca. The perfect amount of rusted roofing at a great price at a place called FINGER LAKES RE-USE CENTER which is located in the Triphammer Marketplace just off the Triphammer Road/ Rt. 13 exit. Imagine every single rummage sale, garage sale, and auction that you’ve ever been at, coupled with all of the remodeling & building hardware that you have ever tossed out in your lifetime in a huge storefront. Electronics, housewares, tools, books, furniture, doors windows, molding, electric & plumbing fixtures, lumber, bath tubs, sinks, toilets, lumber. All of it reclaimed (Hey, It’s ITHACA!) and just waiting for a new life. The prices are very reasonable and they have so much product that they have some of the overflow stored outside in huge shipping containers. So remember, if you are ever looking something off the wall and are just coming up dry, you might just want to check this place out. Like I said, they do advertise lots of the inventory on Craigs List.
Here are a couple shots while I was getting the lighting tuned in, being assisted by my ever present Studio Lighting Model, the Prince of Darkness Himself, Dick Cheney!

Today I stopped by and spent a few moments with a piece of the 9/11 Horror of the World Trade Center, Twin Towers that is now on permanent display in Elmira. Very nicely done & very moving.
Never Forget….

Isn’t it funny how things just seem to happen for a reason? I had this past Saturday off without a Wedding Shoot, and that’s not too common an occurrence during the middle of July. But as fate would have it that worked out for the best, as last week an old Fire Department Buddy of mine passed away after a long illness. Thomas Lynch was his name……Tommy to his friends….he owned and ran Hibbard’s Hardware in Hanover Square when we were all growing up. So it was the middle of the week when my good friend HFD Chief Artie Sullivan asked if I was available on Saturday, and if I could shoot Tommy’s Funeral services, that would be held at the Station right across the street from my Studio…and as luck would have it I could.

Tommy was 74 years old, and a Volunteer for 51 years with our Horseheads Fire Department, and back in the ’70’s when I was also a HFD member, I got to share some fun times with Tommy on the Softball Field and also in the local Bowling Alleys. He and I, we both bowled a lot and we prided ourselves on being(or at least thinking) that we were pretty good……. so that being said we always joked around with each other….whenever one of us was really sucking up the alleys by having a bad night, missed an easy shot, left a split, or especially if we sucked while out of town at a Fire Department Tournament, we always had something special to yell at each other, right at that moment when we were so pissed that we either blew an easy shot, or just threw a terrible ball….we’d always yell….”BOWL MUCH?” , and then bust out laughing! Tommy was the first of my teammates on our old softball team to pass away.
Rest In Peace my friend….and every time I’ll hear the thunder from now on, I’ll think of you and quietly mouth the words while asking that time tested question …..“Bowl Much?”

Took the walking tour this afternoon of the brand new Guthrie Corning Hospital Campus, and let me just say this….IMPRESSIVE!
This Facility is so Futuristic & Hi-Tech, so Beautiful, so Top Shelf…..it ALMOST makes you want to be sick, so you can spend some time there. To all involved….. A JOB TREMENDOUSLY WELL DONE! A Great Addition & Asset to our local Medical Communnity.

The Family went on a Cruise to Bermuda in mid May to celebrate my In-Laws 60th Wedding Anniversary, and while roaming our ship one afternoon looking for my next photographic conquest, I noticed the large assortment of folks sporting really neat tattoo’s, so I decided I’d chronicle all I could, and post a gallery showcasing them. As I chatted with them before doing the shoot I was amazed that pretty much all of the people had an interesting story or two to go along with each bit of ink, and it was neat listening to all of the proud owners telling me about their unique body art! From the first gentleman who acknowledged he spends way too much time watching monster movies & horror flicks, to the military guy, a few religious/spiritual folks, to the final young man who because of his older brother knew that he would never be his Dad’s #1 Son, so he inked himself as #1A Son on the back of his calves. The compilation came out kinda neat….Enjoy!

Memorial Day, what a perfect day to post a few personal favorites from this weekend’s moving Return of the Red Tails event honoring the Heroic Tuskegee Airmen of WWII. As the Event Photographer I had the honor to spend the day amongst these hero’s, and also with one of the only two remaining P-51 Fighters that are still flying today. It was a true honor. My thanks to all the Period Re-En actors featured in these great shots… our Fly-Boy Calvin, and the lovely, vintage Miss Racquel, who looks like she just stepped out of Hollywood in the ’40’s. Great Job you two!

This afternoon, I had the pleasure to meet & shoot a military long timer @ the 211 Studio. Bert J. Olechnowicz – 3rd Assistant Engineer – U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command…..Bert’s back home in Binghamton, NY for a short but well deserved break between deployments in the Middle East. He says he’s heading back in a few weeks for his 5th deployment. Thanks Bert, for all you do to keep us all safe!
And to the rest of you Active Duty Military people out there….contact me while you are home on leave, and as my sincere Thanks to you for your service to all of us….I’ll shoot you for FREE! & you don’t even have to duck!!!!

I noticed something pretty remarkable when I was editing my last Wedding. In these shots that we captured after the ceremony Laura, Mark & I must have been a couple hundred yards away from the crashing waters at the base of Taughannock Falls. Because of the strong winds swirling around in the canyon, here as well as during the actual Ceremony, we kept getting sprayed & chilled despite being so far away. I was amazed at how clearly the great glass in my Nikon Lens was able to catch those tiny droplets in mid air, to the point where they don’t even look like droplets anymore, but more like little threads of light dancing around in mid air… like little light meteors! Pretty cool! Check out both images by clicking on them, the first is the original image to give you an idea of our overall location, and the second is the close up of the same shot. Of course my D3s Camera Body, the settings, and the photographers steady hand had a bit more to also contribute too, but I doubt I could have captured such great detail it if I were using some of the cheaper, lower quality brand, knock-off lenses that are out there and that used too frequently by other shooters. Even though Nikon’s cost substantially more, they are worth it without a doubt. ALL of my lenses are Nikon Lenses. I wouldn’t trust anything else to capture my work. I really wanted to share this one with you.